It has been a harrowing journey for 23-year-old Grace George, but with the support of her friends, family and her former club – she is managing to persevere.
Last year on June 25 in a double-header between the Ipswich Force and Gold Coast Rollers, Grace fell on a fast break during the third quarter and suffered a life-threatening leg injury. The game was cancelled and she was taken to hospital for emergency surgery to restore blood flow in her body and to save her leg.
Grace suffered a closed tibiofibular knee dislocation and tore the four major ligaments in the joint. This movement obstructed the popliteal artery in her leg, which prevented any blood from flowing down to her foot.
One of the key people in this story is Georgia Ralph, a physiotherapist, and Grace’s former Ipswich teammate. Ralph saw the injury take place as it happened. She remained calm and stabilised Grace on the court – possibly saving her life in the process.
Ralph explained that in most cases of traumatic injury, it’s not advised to move the affected area. However, given the circumstances surrounding the blood flow to Grace’s lower leg, Ralph and the medical team on the scene made the difficult decision to manipulate the injured leg to restore blood flow.
Grace had to be coached through the process to ensure she didn’t succumb to shock, but with lollies to raise her sugar levels and careful instruction, the team were able to restore blood flow before she entered the ambulance.
“The surgeon said that if we hadn't moved her leg or if the ambulance took any longer, there was a 90-95 per cent chance she would've lost her leg,” Ralph explained.
“When she did get to the hospital, the surgeon did say she could bleed out on the table.”
Since that day, Ralph has been with Grace every step of the way, creating a completely unique rehabilitation program and working with her weekly – all while refusing to take any form of payment.
The rehabilitation plan became an issue in itself, however. The unique combination of Grace’s injuries meant there weren’t years of planning or testing to go into the recovery timetable.
Ralph explained the plan includes aspects of a rehabilitation of a ruptured ACL, PCL, MCL and LCL, a hamstring transplant, and a dislocated knee - all while working around the healing of the artery that had become obstructed.
Grace awoke from the first set of surgeries with pain in her uninjured right leg.
Unbeknownst to her, while in surgery, Grace required a part of her right hamstring to be transplanted into her injured left leg, to help start the rebuilding process.
“It's one of those injuries that I don't think a lot of people actually fully understand the extent of her injuries,” Ralph explained.
“She was a famous person in the hospital because no one had seen it before. It’s a very, very rare injury. There was only one surgeon (In Brisbane) who was confident to even touch her, which probably speaks volumes.”
The community of Ipswich is another major piece in George’s story, with the club rallying behind her as the men’s team continued onto a championship push.
Grace’s partner, Adelaide 36er and then Ipswich forward Kyrin Galloway played alongside Ralph’s husband and team captain Jason, as well as Nathan Sobey and Jaylin Galloway during the Force’s title charge.
While the women’s team failed to make the top eight, the men’s side embraced Grace fully – from wearing custom t-shirts to support and raise money, to even dedicating the championship win to her.
“The support from both my team and then the men’s team, it made me super emotional,” Grace said.
“When I turned on the live stream (seeing the t-shirts), I just started bawling my eyes out.
“After they won, ‘Sobes’ (Nathan Sobey) came up to me, gave me a hug and said ‘That was for you’. That made me super emotional too, he doesn't have to say that, they don't have to do that, but it did feel like they were playing for me.”
Image via: Joshua Springfield
She explained that she was grateful to be able to watch the three-game series from the bench. Having the support of the team as well as the crowd was crucial for her motivation during the very early stages of recovery.
“It still makes me emotional when I think about it. It means a lot to me,” she said.
“Obviously being an Ipswich junior, I feel like that would've been part of it too. Some of those people I've known since the first time I picked up a basketball, ‘Ralphy’ (Jason) is one of those.
“Physically hearing them cheer for me, that's definitely been something that I won't probably ever forget.”
Image via: Joshua Springfield
One of the first challenges Grace faced when she returned home was her mobility. With surgery having been performed on both legs, she was left unable to enter her home once she had completed the gauntlet of three surgeries in three days.
“When I was allowed to go home, I couldn't even get inside. I could not get up those stairs,” Grace said.
“I just thought, neither leg works. Like this is f***ed pretty much.”
“I was probably gonna have to rehab anyway, so now I just have to do it a bit more,” she joked.
Grace explained that without the support of her now close friend Georgia Ralph, she would not be even close to where she is today in her recovery.
“I honestly can't even put into words how much Georgia means to me now,” Grace said.
“Before, we were friends and we were teammates. But when it happened, just the reactions of everyone around and she didn't think twice, she ran straight to me.
“Literally from that point on, I'm kind of only comfortable with Georgia. Like I won't see another physio. It comes down to a trust thing when it's such a major injury. I can't honestly can't even put into words how great she is. She's doing it for free, she's not charging me because obviously there's so much financial stress on me as well.
“It’s done with love, it would have been a very different story without her.”
Grace’s entire life revolves around basketball, having played in either the QBL or NBL1 North since 2018. She’s been unable to work since her injury and has only recently been able to walk and move without the support of crutches or a knee brace.
Managing her pain, mental health and rehabilitation has been her only objectives for the past nine months. With the support of her mum, siblings and Kyrin, she has been able to make significant strides in her improvement, despite multiple complications.
In recent months, she’s started working in more coaching clinics with the Brisbane Bullets community programs, but says the basketball court is still a point of pain for her mentally.
“There's a lot of emotion there,” she said.
“It's upsetting for me because there's still all the unknowns of do I get to play again? Or what level will I play again?”
The injury has seen Grace embark on a journey of self-discovery in the almost 12 months since it happened. Knowing in the short-term she can’t stand on her feet for eight hours a day, or play basketball at an elite level – it has left her questioning what a future career path may look like.
However, Grace explained that her long-term goal is to return to basketball. And nothing will get between her and returning to the hardwood.
“I wanna play basketball so bad, It's not a will she or will she not thing, will she be allowed? I don't even think like that,” she said.
While the long-term goal of returning to the court is an overarching theme of Grace’s recovery, the immediate objectives involving her day-to-day recovery are constantly shifting.
Sometimes that’s just staying motivated while sitting in doctor’s offices for hours on end, wrestling with the long drives between Brisbane and Ipswich, enduring endless x-rays and ultrasounds, increasing her range of motion from 88 to 90 degrees, or being able to move her ankles up and down.
Those are the short-term victories that have forged the foundation of her recovery.
“Sometimes I sound silly, because it's the most basic things that a two-year-old can do,” she said.
“I'm struggling to do these things… just try and bend your ankle, just put some weight on it.”
“I kind of have the everyday little goals, and then I have ones along the way. Even walking normally, getting out the brace, that’s a goal.”
Alongside the support of family, friends and the Ipswich and wider basketball community, Grace dedicates her recovery to one person in particular, her mother.
“Mum has been there since I did it. She's been there every day and she deals with every single mood, every single low,” Grace said.
“I know that's a big weight on her. But she's just incredible. We all love our mums, everyone has a biased opinion thinking their mum's the best mum in the world. But my mum's really the best mum in the world. And I couldn't thank her enough.
“I can't even put into words how much her support and her love helps. It is just ongoing and constant. It could be the worst scenario, which it was when they were talking about the amputation, and she's there making you think that's fine.”
From not being able to work, her battle extends past just the extensive costs of medical treatment. From groceries, hospital parking and more, she explained that she loses sleep over not being able to support herself through this process.
However, with half of her goal on GoFundMe already reached, she explained just how much the support in messages she’s received and the donations from all over the world have meant to her in this recovery.
“With all the donations from people all over the place, people I don't even know. People very close to me, you have no words when people can be so generous and kind,” she said.
“You have friends everywhere, but also just random people wanting to send love and support.
“I always used to try and donate to GoFundMe … because you'd never think that you are gonna be in that position. You don't really understand how much it helps or how much it means to that person who's struggling.
“It means so much. And it goes so far, the financial side of things have been, they've been bad. It’s been a lot and it's ongoing, it's still going.”
The most inspiring part of Grace’s journey has been her attitude. Through every step, every swollen knee, from every appointment, she still manages to do it with a smile. Showing anyone that may be going through hardships, that there is hope, and light at the end of the tunnel.
Grace George still requires people’s support on her GoFundMe, the page can be found here.
Ralph and Grace went further into detail on all that happened in a two-part series on her Instagram page. Part 1, Part 2.
